Devices able to emit light by the mixing of two liquid chemicals are well known. Such devices are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,539,794; 3,576,987; 4,193,109; 4,682,544; 4,751,616; 4,814,949 and 5,121,302.
Generally speaking the proposed devices involve two chambers, respectively containing the first liquid chemical, named oxalate solution, and the second one, named activator solution. These two chambers are separated by a wall which can be broken by the user, or which may have a removable part. Said wall should also be a good barrier against gases, because the oxalate solution is sensitive to any contamination originating either from outside or from the activator. Therefore, in practice, save economically costly exceptions, the oxalate solution is enclosed in a breakable glass ampule. Unfortunately, it is not possible to continuously manufacture, starting from material in roll form, elements with glass ampules. Moreover, they are expensive.
The present invention relates to an element useful for such a continuous manufacture, thus very economical, and what is more, with inexpensive constitutive materials. The element has furthermore the advantage of being flat, of being particularly light, as well as other auxiliary advantages which will appear in the following disclosure.
More particularly, the invention proposes a chemiluminescent lighting element involving at least two chambers filled respectively with an oxalate solution and an activator solution. The oxalate solution is in a tight-closed pouch of thin aluminum foil, lined on its interior side by a polymer, said pouch being a first chamber. This pouch is itself enclosed in a bigger tight-closed pouch, made of translucent polymeric film, being a second chamber, which also contains the liquid activator chemical.
The element according to the invention is then essentially comprising a pouch made of aluminum foil containing the oxalate solution, disposed inside a pouch made of translucent plastic film, containing also the activator solution, and, optionally, an absorbing felt and a steel ball or other hard particle, of which the role is to pierce the aluminum pouch at the moment of use, under the effect of manipulation by the user.
In the basic invention under reference, the chemiluminescent reaction giving the emission of light, is accompanied, right from the starting moment when the components are mixed, by a gaseous emission which leads to a swelling or inflation of the outer pouch in translucent film. In certain cases, this inflation is useful for giving the luminous item a tridimensional form, for instance, the form of a flower. Before the starting of the reaction, i.e., during the storage and until the moment of activation by the customer, and including it, the outer pouch remains flat, as well as the one inside, and the customer cannot realize what will be the form in relief to be adopted by the item once lighted up. It has been found that it is possible to obtain a certain gas emission during the storage period, and thus also at the moment of the selling operation in having one of the components, not in one of the aluminum pouches, but aside of those. It is namely the case of certain oxalate esters associated to certain solvents, of which it has been found that they give a slight gas emission during storage, what they do not do when in an aluminum pouch.
An objective of the invention is to teach the use of a flexible pouch housing a flexible and burstable inner pouch to allow admixing of an activator and oxalate for chemiluminescent light.
An advantage of the instant invention is obtained when the activator solution, instead of being put in one single pouch, and without modifying its total amount, is put by halves in two distinct pouches. The end user will light up the element starting with one of these pouches, using the second one at the moment where he wants to regenerate the light emission.
A further advantage of the proposed combinations is obtained with the following embodiment. The activator is put in a single pouch, but under the form of a solid solution. Once the various pouches pierced (including this one cited), the pouch with solid activator receives some liquid coming from the other one(s), which are to slowly and progressively dissolve its contents. The light emission therefore is progressively regulated in the same rate, which can be predetermined by judicious dosings.
A further advantage, analogous, can also be obtained with a solid solution of the oxalate ester, in an appropriate pouch, and a liquid solution for the activator, in order to get here too, a progressive dissolving. Referring to this, one can use of a process allowing to obtain solid solutions of oxalate esters, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,816,325 for instance.
A further obtainable advantage, with another configuration, can be the following one. Among the ingredients are one or several dyes. One can put one dye separately in one aluminum foil pouch, let us say for instance; a blue dye, and another one, let us say for instance red, in another separate pouch. The two pouches with dyes are well marked to easily recognizable by the user, which begins with piercing the blue one only. Later, for instance at a given signal, the user or users are invited to pierce the red pouch and obtain then a pink emission suddenly instead of a blue one. This can be appreciated in the amusement field, where the present kind of chemiluminescent lighting elements are frequently of use.
A method of manufacturing a plurality of chemiluminescent lighting elements in a continuous process includes the steps of providing first and second sheets of aluminum foil each having a heat-sealing coating, juxtapositioning the first and second sheets of aluminum foil with the heat-sealing coatings in contact, heat-sealing the first and second sheets of aluminum foil along a first periphery to form a first interior chamber with a portion of said first periphery forming an opening, filling the first interior chamber through the opening with a first part of a two-part chemiluminescent light producing mixture, heat-sealing the opening for maintaining the first part of a two-part chemiluminescent light producing mixture therein to create a filled inner pouch, cutting the first and second sheets of aluminum foil proximate to the first periphery to separate the inner pouch with an automatic knife, positioning the inner pouch between first and second sheets of flexible plastic, heat sealing the first and second sheets of flexible plastic along a second periphery to form a second interior chamber capturing the inner pouch therein with a portion of said second periphery forming an opening, filling the second interior chamber through the opening with a second part of a two-part chemiluminescent light producing mixture, and sealing the opening to create an outer pouch containing the second part of a two-part chemiluminescent light producing mixture and the inner pouch therein. A hard particle, such as a ball bearing, can be inserted between the inner and outer pouches.
The manufacturing process of the invention can further include the step of providing a sheet of fiber felt between the first and second first sheets of flexible plastic, and sealing the first and second sheets of flexible plastic and the sheet of fiber felt along the second periphery to form the second interior chamber.
In the practice of the method of the invention, the sheet materials are dispensed from continuous rolls so that the inner pouches are incorporated into the outer pouches in a continuous process.
Other objectives and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of this invention. The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof.